Hellish Valentine's
by Bakazuki
Summary: Set a couple of months after AI Buster. Albireo is dragged into a Valentine's Day event by Hokuto. Will he be able to stand her annoying personality for a day? AlbireoHokuto. Discontinued, as this was done a long time ago when I was younger.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not affiliate with Project .hack/ in any way. It does not belong to me. It is licensed by Bandai. The original story of AI Buster was written by Tatsuya Hamazaki.

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic, people. So reviewers...it's your job to be as HARSH as humanly possible when writing your criticisms.

Rated mainly for language.

I tried to get the chat messages into a similar style like the actual novel, but would not allow me the luxury. They wouldn't let me use indents and I had to replace the original slashes(/) with (parenthesis). Any help on this would be appreciated.

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Watarai/Albireo's POV

I stepped into the quiet apartment I called home. Thinking of what I should eat later, I walked over to my sofa and sat down, while popping open a can of soda from the fridge. The couch was cheap looking, but very durable. As was the case with most of the furniture in my room. Besides from my PC, a few games, CDs, and a TV, I only bought what was necessary for me to live a decent life. At least, until I start a family, that is. Although, I wasn't worried. That probably won't happen for quite a while.

I still worked with CC Corp. Although, I was no longer sure if the tasks I were given as a debugger were right anymore. The event with the AI, Lycoris made me think about the subject quite often. Who exactly is "Aura?" Is Aura's birth a good thing? But, "God" or "Morganna," as Lycoris had called it, was trying to prevent it. Her explanation was so full of holes, that it was hard to understand. It usually gave me headaches trying to comprehend it.

Deciding it was best not to think about it before I gave myself a migraine, I finished my quick dinner, walked towards my PC and turned it on. "It's been a while since I played 'The World' for pure amusement," I said as I watched the computer start up. The words, 'ALTIMIT OS' popped up on the screen...the name of the so-called 'Ultimate OS.' I also began wondering if it was really as great as people made it seem to be. Why were events such as the incident with Lycoris happening?

Before going deeper into my reverie, the system had completely started up. A soft, but happy tune came out of the speakers. As usual, several icons started to appear: The World, Mailer, and few other things. Small text flashed next to the Mailer icon indicated that I received new mail. I decided to check that out first before continuing on. Most of my mail consisted of emails from CC Corp telling me about various things, such as, of course, bug reports. Although quite a few times, there were a few emails from Orca and Balmung, usually about the game itself. But sometimes, there was casual conversation as well.

Speaking of which, when I had told the two that I had watched most of their battle against the One Sin, they weren't too surprised. I assumed that they saw the poem on the BBS. Of course, I told them that the poem wasn't by me, but presumably by Hokuto. Orca had told me that it didn't matter the poem was from me or not. They told me that it seemed that I was the type of guy who would be interested in watching a good battle. _'…Was I really that predictable?'_ I thought.

I took a look at the date next to my most recent mail: February 14. To most, people call this day Valentine's Day. But to some of those that are part of the dateless/loners community, they call it Singles Awareness Day. Some might even go as far as to use the acronym, SAD, because it represents how they feel during that day. Of course, I honestly didn't give a shit. Why should I? February 14 was just a day, nothing more. Anyone who gets sad during that day just because they can't get a date is pretty pathetic.

Although, this does not mean I am completely devoid of sympathy. I'm a single too, and I've had quite a few lonely Valentine's Days myself. And I'll admit that I've cried a little the first few times, also. But eventually, at the third year or so, I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "God damn it…Look at me!" and laughed my ass off the rest of the day. After that, I just went with whatever happened on that day. There were even times that I didn't realize it was Valentine's Day until the day after!

Shaking my head of thoughts of some of my less the memorable Valentine's Days, I finally finished checking my mail. Just as expected, I got the usual junk and closed the mailer. It's about time I started playing. I clicked on the game icon and saw the newly redone menu screen. In the background there was a magic scroll with a hole burned through it, giving a good overview of the town of Mac Anu. Along with the game's title, copyright, and menu options, the blade of a sword appeared across the left side of the monitor with the words, Key of the Twilight, engraved on it. I've always wondered whether there was any significance to it…It's known to most players as some legendary, powerful item. I sometimes wonder how much of that is true. I'll have to ask someone about it later…

I was thinking, _'Screw the BBS, I'm on my off hours,'_ while I moved the cursor over to the 'log in' option with my controller. But I remembered that it was a special date (and one I didn't care about). Special dates mean special one day only events. I moved the cursor over to the board option and entered. I looked through the normal topics. "Ah…the desperate youth," I said. In the message board were several messages asking for a girlfriend/valentine. It's not like I haven't seen any before. But there were more than usual today. _'Obviously, you fool,'_ said a voice in the back of my mind.

After a couple of moments, I found an event amongst all the wasted posts. Deciding that I would join do the event just piss the admins off, I selected the topic and read the details:

**Special Valentine's Event  
****Author: Admin of Romance**

I scoffed at the stupid name the admin (whoever it was) decided to give himself. I read on.

**Today we are holding a special event given only to couples!  
****Be sure to bring your lover to the dungeon: Δ Secretive  
****Forbidden Feeling. Exact quest details won't be given until  
****both players sign up for the event.**

I sighed and closed the BBS window. _'Figures that the event would be for couples,' _I thought. Knowing that I was unable to participate in the event, I decided that I would just log in and explore a few dungeons for treasure. Or so I thought. When I placed my FMD on my head and walked through Mac Anu, amongst all the couples was one lone girl. With her avatar's white witch's hat and waist long blonde hair, I recognized her instantly. I don't know where it came from, but my mind was telling me that if I talked to her today, horrendous things would happen to me. _'I haven't spoken to her in quite a while, but…' _

I decided to follow my instincts and tried to sneak off. Unfortunately for me, she spotted me as I tried to leave and waved to me. "Hey, Al! Long time no see!" That was my cue to run for my dear life. I quickly thought of where to go. My house wasn't safe. Since she was in my friends list, she would be welcomed in. I decided to go to another server; she wouldn't be able to figure out where I've gone unless she was close enough to hear me. It would make things even harder if she heard me. Hokuto could just follow me to the server and block my escape when I reached there.

I snapped out of my thoughts. She was still sitting at her spot, smiling and waving at me, waiting for me to walk to her. This was my chance. I quickly turned and dashed towards the bridge. I looked back to see a surprised look on her face while she said, "Huh? Wait up, Al!" She was still standing there, dumbfounded. That also meant a few extra seconds for me!

It looked like things were going to be easy…until I crashed into someone without looking as I was crossing the Mac Anu Bridge. In front of me were two people, a dark-haired blademaster and his girlfriend, a wavemaster. I crashed into the girl. The blademaster walked up to me and yelled. "Hey, what the hell did you crashed into us for?" I glanced back. Hokuto had started to move. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"I have no time for this…" I grumbled to myself. I looked back at the blademaster. "Are you sure you want to mess with someone that is part of the debugging team?" I know I shouldn't have used my job as threat as well as telling it in the first place, but this was an emergency. But at least it worked, as I saw that the two slowly backed away from me. Although, Hokuto was starting to catch up. "Damn it, I've wasted enough time here!"

I continued to run. As I neared the Chaos Gate, I passed by two familiar faces. The two now famous blademasters who defeated The One Sin, also known as the descendants of Fianna, were waving at me. "Hello, Albireo," said Balmung. It was the first I've seen of him in a while. In fact, I haven't even seen his wings before. They were beautiful.

Before the two could say anything else, I cut them off. "Hello, Balmung! You too, Orca! Can't talk right now!" I walked towards the Chaos Gate and spoke a command. "Transport me to the Ω ser-" Before I could finish, Hokuto had suddenly caught up to me.

"I've finally caught up to you, Al!" said Hokuto as she pulled my avatar into a seemingly tight hug.

**Hokuto**: (glomp)  
**Albireo**: …How the hell did you catch up to me?  
**Hokuto**: With this.  
**Hokuto**: (showprevitem)

What she held out in front of me was a speed charm. The fact that you could use them in town surprised me. Hokuto yelled at me. "Why were you running away from me, Al? It was me!"

"Hmph…you just answered your own question," I said. Silence ensued. I muted my mic. "Here it comes…" Like the first time we've met, sounds of tears could be heard. But unlike before, we were out in the virtual public, meaning that everyone could hear.

"I-I just wanted to say I was sorry back at the church, Al…Are you still mad at me?" Whoever said I was mad at her back there? But then I realized she said that to get back at me. As she continued crying, all the couples were staring at me, giving me disapproving looks and snide comments. I could see that Orca was laughing his ass off and was publicly showing his amusement by making his avatar do a laughing pose. Balmung was smirking at me. He must be laughing with his mic off…

**Kamerio**: Tsk tsk…  
**LyleRaster**: Wow, what a smooth talker! …Not.  
**Caris**: What a jerk!  
**Orca**: Heh heh…Al, you're an idiot. XD  
**Balmung**: Quite the heartbreaker, aren't you, Al?

I muted my mic again and slammed my head against the desk. She was being more annoying than usual. Although, I have to admit…It was a little rude to run away from her just because of a whim. I sighed and turned my mic back on. "I'm sorry, OK? Didn't mean to make you cry," I said to her. _'Again,'_ I thought. _'Although you're probably faking it to get attention and embarrass me…'_

"Then why were you running away?" said Hokuto. Here avatar now showed a mixture of anger and sadness. Even _more_ snide comments came from the crowd, which was slowly getting bigger. I was cursing in my room with the mic off, wondering why she has to attract such a huge crowd. She was also making this very hard for me. My mind quickly thought up of an excuse. It was too late to set this conversation to whisper mode, too many people were already surrounding us.

**Albireo**: Because, uh…you're cute face reminded me that I  
had something to do, so I had to run!  
**Hokuto**: ……  
**Xaktor**: ……  
**Kamerio**: ……  
**Orca**: Ha ha ha ha ha!  
**LyleRaster**: …Liar.  
**Hokuto**: Al, that's the lamest excuse I have ever heard. But I  
forgive you.

Her avatar's mood shifted from extremely sad to annoyingly smug. She was enjoying this sick form of torture. As Orca's laughing got even louder, people were leaving. Obviously, they were expecting some sort of argument to amuse themselves and didn't get what they wanted. When the crowd left, I realized something. _'Damn it! I could have just logged out right at the spot!' _I sighed and stared at her. "So, how are things… Yates?" I said with a smirk, daring to speak what I assumed was her alias.

"Uh…my name's Hokuto, Al," she said in response to the name. I guess that means she's either trying to deny the fact, or that she really wasn't Yates. But, the latter would be impossible unless some other player was in the dungeon with us. And I was pretty damn sure that no one else was in there besides the people that I know of. I decided to play along with it by not saying anything. "Well, anyway, I heard about this event that's taking place in an hour!"

"Um…there is?" I made my avatar give off a puzzled look to give off the lie that I didn't hear about it. I didn't expect her to mention that. _'Now, I am eternally screwed. I bet she's going to…'_

"I thought you read the BBS? Anyway, let's go together!" I knew she would say that. Rather than make another scene, I decided to accept. I reluctantly typed in the nod command. "Alright then, it's a date!"

I stared at her for a moment. Who the hell said this was a date? I sighed and said, "…Yeah." Suddenly, two whispered messages appeared in my text window. They were from Balmung and Orca, who were still hanging around the wall, while saving their data at the same time. "I'll be right back, Hokuto…" I moved my character close to a wall to avoid blocking anyone's path.

**Orca**: _Show a little more enthusiasm, will you, Al? ;)  
_**Balmung**: _He's right. You've taken the first step, but you  
__need to show some emotion while you're at it.  
_**Orca**: _Exactly!_

The two were teasing me a bit. My avatar gave the two a glare while Hokuto wasn't looking. I noticed that they seemed to be replying to each others whispers. They must have be repeating their messages to each other. I went into whisper mode and sent identical messages to the two powerful, but somewhat annoying players.

**Albireo**: _You two assume too much. Anyway, can you two  
__help me escape this mess?  
_**Orca**: _Oh, come on! You should have fun with other players at  
__least once in a while! This is a good opportunity to learn to  
__work with others! And besides you're single, right? ;)  
_**Balmung**: _Teasing aside, we can't help you. Both of us have  
__important things to do. Orca has homework. I have some  
__bills to pay. Thus, we will be going offline pretty soon. If  
__you're really having that much of a problem just say no to  
__her.  
_**Orca:** _Heh._ _Of course, you're probably too scared to make  
__another scene like the one from a while ago to take such a risk._

I was getting pretty annoyed at Orca, but he had a point in his last message. As a debugger, it would draw too much attention to myself when I'm doing my job. Of course, Balmung and Orca didn't know that. I switched back to talk mode and spoke to Hokuto. "I'm done. Let's go."

"What took you so long?" screamed Hokuto. Hokuto's avatar was infuriated. Her yell was so loud that a couple of people were grumbling about 'high-pitched yells' coming from their speakers. Their avatars were cringing to reflect their annoyance.

"I was taking care of a few annoying messages…" I said, glancing at the two blademasters. "Anyway, we have to form a party first." I toggled an invite to her, grumbling to a muted microphone. "You lead the way." As she nodded in the usual vigorous manner, the descendants of Fianna waved to me.

"See you later, lovebirds! Heh heh…" said Orca. He added in a whisper: _If you survive._ His comments were starting to give me a headache.

"Yes, good luck with your quest, Albireo. You too, Hokuto," said Balmung. With that, they logged out.

"Come on, let's go!" Hokuto said as she dragged me towards the Chaos Gate. Then she stopped and remained silent for a moment. "I…um…"

"You forgot the keywords," I said with irritation. "Don't worry, I know them," I said. I typed them in. I then realized I said something extremely stupid.

"So you did know about it! Were you trying to get out of it?" she said with a glare.

I laughed nervously as I confirmed the choice of keywords. With the system loading up the event's special maps, it gave me some time to think. I kept on having this feeling that this would be my worst Valentine's Day ever. _'Today is going to suck…'_

**Chapter 1 End**

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Author's Notes: Yes, I know that the third volume of the LotT manga shows Watarai and Kamui as a sort of couple. Personally, I couldn't care less about Kamui since she didn't leave a good impression on me (no offense to Kamui fans). Judge my fic on writing ability, not the couple.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not affiliate with Project .hack/ in any way. It does not belong to me. It is licensed by Bandai. The original story of AI Buster was written by Tatsuya Hamazaki.

**Author's Note:** Ugh...editing this thing to avoid the least amount of document changes after uploading is annoying..."Merci beaucoup" (I'm taking French, which is also why the town's name is French. If someone would please tell me which language the real server towns' names are, I would greatly appreciate it) to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews really helped me continue this fic. Even merely telling me what parts you guys liked helped me. Sorry it took so long. My will to write just comes and goes. Oh…and I'm bumping the rating up to T to be safe. Hope you don't mind.

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"This place… This place is…" I started to mumble as we finished warping into this map. Gaudy and tacky were the first words that came to mind, but they were so in such a high degree that I couldn't bring myself to say the words out loud. We were now in a town up in the heavens, held up by the clouds. This place was to act as a sort of 'lobby' or 'waiting room' until the actual event started. The buildings of this town were in many horrendous shades of pink and red. I peered inside one of the shop windows to see an abundant amount of roses and extremely lacy curtains. It was all very sickening for me. _'Why, Hokuto…Why did you drag me along?'_

As I glanced at the sign which revealed the town's name, Le Ciel De l'Amour, Hokuto finished the sentence I had neglected to complete. "This place is absolutely gorgeous!" I stared at her with a perplexed look. "Whoever designed this town has good taste!" Rolling my eyes at my monitor, I questioned both Hokuto and the event planner's tastes. She turned to me and said, "So what do we do? We have at least 30 minutes…I want to do something!"

"Well…" I said, walking through the town paths randomly, "…Probably registering for the event should be our main priority before anything else. Some events only allow a certain amount of players to participate. They could allow 16, 32, or even 100 pairs of players to participate. Who knows? None of the ordinary players know until the start of the event, unless it is stated in the event's BBS topic."

Hokuto stared at me questioningly. "But aren't you a…"

I quickly shushed at her to get her to stop talking. "Don't talk about that here. Anyway, that's not my job, so don't ask me." We came across the people managing event registration, sitting at a desk. "Well, here we are. You're the one that dragged me here, Hokuto, so you take care of the registration."

I watched as Hokuto walked up to the two event managers, who were wearing painfully bright colored matching suits. One of them looked up at her and smiled. "Welcome to Le Ciel De l'Amour…" He made a slight pause, presumably to check the list of players. "…We still have a few spots left on the list. Do you want to register for this one-time-only event?" said the man. I noticed a hint of exasperation and tiredness in his voice. If I had to say something over and over, I'd be like that too.

"Yes, please. Sign us up as Albireo and Hokuto," she said with an unusual politeness. Very strange with her, she's usually so loud and annoying. In fact, I don't even believe I have ever heard her say anything polite (to me anyway).

As I pondered over how polite Hokuto really was, the two people seemed to be taking a little longer than they should have. "Excuse us for a moment. We need to discuss something with your partner," the man said to Hokuto. A whispered message suddenly appeared on my chat window. I took off my FMD and read.

**Farrion:** _Excuse me. You work for CC Corporation as Chief __Debugger,  
__do you not? What is your business here?  
_**Albireo:** _Yes, I am chief debugger of the Cobalt Knight Brigade. __Is there  
a problem?  
_**Farrion:** _Well, we find it strange for another admin to be entering  
__special events…  
_**Albireo:** _So? There is no rule stating that I can't play as a normal  
__player. Neither is there a rule against registering for another  
__administrator's event._

There was a somewhat long period of time before a message was sent to me again. Most likely to discuss the ordeal over with the other employees involved in the event.

**Farrion:** _…Fine. But we will have temporarily strip your character  
__of its administrative privileges, options, etc. They will be  
__reactivated once the event is over. It's not that we don't trust  
__you, but we want to make sure._

**Albireo:** _That will be okay with me._

My character's status window automatically opened. I watched as my parameters were toned down to normal levels. As part of the debugging team, we were given parameter increases to give us a sort of edge in PvP battles against hackers and such. I glanced at the game interface and saw that all of my administrative abilities had disappeared. Most likely, my ability to use cheats was gone as well. All this suggested that at least part of the event had something to do with battling a strong monster.

I placed my FMD on my head and my first-person view of Le Ciel (for some reason, I can't say the entire name with grace, thus I decided to shorten it to my advantage) was returned to me. Hokuto was tapping her foot to show her impatience. "Al, what was that about?"

"It's nothing too important," I whispered. Hokuto looked at me with doubt. "Really, it's been taken care of!" What was discussed between employees of the Triple C was none of her business. I heard Hokuto mumble something so incoherent, even the game's message log couldn't pick it up. I wondered what she was thinking. In attempt to break the silence, I asked, "Anyway, what do you want to do next?"

At first, Hokuto was freakishly silent; she didn't say a thing. I assumed that she didn't want to do much of anything right now. But soon I realized that my assumption was extremely wrong. I watched as she turned to the section of the town that I least wanted to be in – the event souvenir stands. To be fair to newer players, some items over there were free. But the better items were labeled with atrociously high prices; these were the items I was hoping not to come across. I've dreaded that she would come to this place sooner or later. After regaining my losses from my last 'shopping spree' with Hokuto, I was hoping not to have such a horrible experience happen to my wallet of money again. Sadly though, it appeared that I had fallen into the clichéd phrase, 'History always repeats itself.' I watched as Hokuto walked over…to the stand with the most expensive items; which, unfortunately, were barely affordable for me. I noticed that Hokuto was eyeing a necklace. It was a beautiful one, I have to admit, but it looked like a total budget-killer. "This necklace would look so great on me!

'_Maybe if I run off to the other side of town, I won't have to pay,'_ I thought as I inched away from the area. This did not mean I was ditching her from the event entirely. But my savings were too meager for me to spend on event items. I walked slowly in a somewhat zigzagging pattern as to not give reason for Hokuto to give suspicion. Looking around for a valid place to hide from Hokuto, I spotted a small, secluded, and accessible building over in the corner of town. A perfect spot to hide until the actual event starts. As I slowly swerved over to the shop, people who had seen me earlier with Hokuto and/or noticed that I was moving away from her while she was shopping were openly making comments. They did not understand the dangers of knowing a person like Hokuto…

**Xaktor:** Hey, isn't that the guy who was making that one girl  
cry in Mac Anu?  
**Caris: **Yeah. Oh, look! He's running away from her again! You  
see?  
**Xaktor:** Oh? Where is the girl right now?  
**Caris:** Over at the shops…  
**P1MPM4573R: **Looks like all he cares about is his wallet.  
**mina1968: **(censored)! Eh? What was that strange sound?  
**mina1968: **…………What? "Cursing not allowed in major event  
channel?" What the (censored) kind of (censored) is that?  
**P1MPM4573R: **Mina, you might want to…  
**mina1968: **Shut up! I say what I want to (censored) say  
about those (censored) (censored) at CC Corp! They can  
kiss my (censored) for adding such a-

Several ear-splitting noises replaced the curse words in order censor them out for those within earshot. And suddenly, the player was silenced; she could say no more. This usually meant that there was going to be a little argument between the offending player and the staff. An admin appeared in front of her. It was the same one that I had an argument with just a few moments ago. This time though, he had edited his character avatar to give himself a more Grim Reaper-like look. He then spoke out here offense as if he was an actual judge. "mina1968, you are hereby banned from entering The World for 2 weeks and instantly disqualified from today's event. Have a nice day! " He took out a long-arms weapon that resembled a scythe and slashed at the player. Her avatar fragmented as if she was actually going to be deleted. The admin looked like he was having fun banning people.

**Albireo: **…I've heard of programmer nerds who tend to spice up  
their actions with special effects, but that was ridiculous.  
**Farrion: Let this event be a warning to you all. I see and  
****hear all evil.  
****Xaktor:** Oh, how scary.  
**Farrion:** How right you are. I can even do this.  
**Xaktor:** …Hey! What did you do to my stats? And my  
beautiful avatar! You disfigured it! Are you on crack or  
something? Is this how CC Corp employees treat their consumers?  
That's messed!

Eventually, he had reached the cursed limit as well, and was kicked out in just the same fashion. This time, the fault lied mostly on the administrator. The one known as Farrion teleported away, presumably to find another victim. I took out a piece of paper, making a note to report the nutcase later. I was about to resume my walk towards my destination until an event announcement.

**_Attention: Due to several players' misconduct, spaces for  
_**_**participating in today's event has been opened. Hurry  
**_**_before event registration closes!_**

Due to the most recent announcement, people were around me were dashing over to the registration desk in hopes of being able to participate in the event (Heck, I was willing to give the spot _I_ was in; all they had to do was ask). Being in the middle of the crowd, I was being pushed back to the event souvenir stands wave after wave. I struggled to break free, but to no avail. _'Cupid has no mercy on me today, huh?' _

As expected, I was brought back to my starting point after the crowd dispersed. The minutes I had wasted walking over to the building in a zigzag manner was completely negated by two players who couldn't clean out their vocabulary. And unfortunately for me, Hokuto was done looking around. She held up two items in front of me. "I'll take these, Al!" One of them was the necklace we spotted a while ago, which had of price of 50,000 G. I cursed to myself. The other was an elegant dress. This was the **true** budget killer. It alone was priced at 125,000 G. Worst of all, I could afford it, and there was no way I could I hide that from Hokuto, who could see the amount of gold I had in hand (200,000 G) by simply checking my character status, a feature I currently hate. There are times when I question Hokuto's expensive choice in items as a sort of punishment for mistreatment. This is one of those times.

I sat in my seat, hesitant to touch the mouse. Hokuto was looking at me with an expectant smile. I groaned as I gave up. _'…Damn, girls really are worth time and money. This one especially…' _I sent her the money and watched my 200,000 G drop to a mere 25,000 G. "Geez, I pity your parents. I really do." She apparently ignored my snide comment and went on to buy the items, showing no guilt whatsoever of almost completely spending my gold.

Mourning over my heavy loss of gold, I moved my character over towards a nearby bench as I waited for Hokuto to finish up. To pass the time, I decided to do what most people thought was a useful skill: eavesdrop. I was hoping that I would be able to find a conversation that actually interested me. But alas, many people were either whispering (or talking rather; most were in talk mode) sweet nothings in each other's ears, or making predictions on what will happen during this event (I, for one, was hoping for something a little challenging to make my day at least a little better). One particular conversation between two wavemasters caught my attention. At first, it seemed like a sappy, romantic conversation like the rest, but it eventually escalated into something further.

The male wavemaster, whose slender build and gentle-looking eyes went well together with his nervous voice, spoke first. I noticed a hint of a foreign accent as he spoke. "…You know, we've known each other for almost about a year, and I finally have enough for a flight to Japan and sev-…"

The female, who sounded a lot more outgoing compared to her lover, interrupted him before he could complete his thought. (Kind of like another ditzy wavemaster I know…) "Oh my God, you're finally going to visit? I'm so happy! But first, I have to clean my house and-"

He halted her with his hand. "Um, that's not…the only reason I'm going. Er…here, let me send you a pic to help you understand…" At that moment, I knew what he was planning to do. It was so painfully obvious at that point, I almost felt like laughing out loud. "Well, I believe you have received it…What's your answer?"

The neutral expression on her character's face actually made her reaction of shock more believable. "…Y…You're actually…" The outburst of emotion that came after these words ruined what could have been a touching (yet still a little cheesy) scene. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Yes, of course I'll marry you! I have to tell my parents, and my friends, and…"

The male wavemaster sighed. "And I was hoping for a small reception…" Apparently, everyone else noticed this little event and crowded them around to give them congratulations.

I rolled my eyes at the scene and glanced back at the souvenir stand, wondering if Hokuto was finished. She wasn't even there. I thought of this as a perfect chance to escape from this heart decorated hell. But before I could even think about logging out… "Love is a powerful thing, isn't it?" She was standing right behind me with a smile on her face. Hokuto sat down next to me on the bench.

I replied to her with a skeptical tone. "What…between those two over there?"

"Yeah! To be able to maintain a relationship strictly online for so long and then finally deciding to marry? It serves as good inspiration!" One must question what she meant by inspiration. It could have meant inspiration for other couples, or her own personal inspiration for her writing.

"Hmph. It won't last long. Online relationships, especially those that proceed too quickly, like this one, die out pretty quick," I said after switching to whisper mode. I admit that I might have sounded a little cynical with that comment. But learning from others' experiences, I could very well say that this was fact.

Hokuto sounded as if she thought of these words as blasphemy. She was still in talk mode as she spoke. People were starting to notice. "Al! That's just rude! If they get to know each other online while-"

"Hey, put yourself on whisper. I already have enough infamy because of you. Anyway, it's true. It's very easy to 'replace' your true personality online without even knowing it. And when the two people finally meet and get to know each other offline, everything starts falling apart."

For once, Hokuto's voice softened to a quiet, gentle voice. Her face was now showing me a saddened expression. "But…that way of thinking is just so…"

"There is no way relationships built up completely online will _never _work out. That's just what I think." At this moment, she had a neutral expression. Background noises coming from Hokuto's mic were silenced. The last thing I heard was footsteps. She remained idle for a couple of minutes. _'What happened to cause her to leave so suddenly?'_ I wondered. Things remained like this until five minutes before the start of the event. _'What is she doing right now? If she doesn't turn up, we'll be disqualified from the event!'_

Suddenly, Hokuto blinked and rose up from her seat, taking herself out of her idle state. She replied to my long unanswered statement in a quiet voice, which was also a little shaky for some reason. "If that's what you think…"

_**Attention all players participating in today's event! Please  
**__**go to the teleporter at the center of town to take yourselves  
**_**_to the first part of today's event._**

Her back was turned to me as she walked towards the designated spot. She spoke nothing to me as we walked there, except for one sentence. "Let's get this over with…" This came along with more mumbling that neither I nor her mic could pick up. Hokuto left me and walked towards into the teleport, leaving me confused on what exactly she was feeling at that moment.

-----

Author's Notes: Not exactly my best…One can disregard almost this entire chapter and still understand the story in a whole. Forgive me for the lackluster chapter after a near three month wait. I promise you that I will do better in the next. But I hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit. As always, harsh criticism is appreciated.

On a side note, I'm trying to find the canonical real names of the characters from AI Buster, for I will need them later. (I don't want to get too many complaints, for this will most likely be finished AFTER AI Buster 2 is released). I know Albireo's last name is Watarai. I'm not stupid. And I swear I've seen someone mention Hokuto's real name in a comment somewhere…

Well, time for some event planning…


End file.
